Coord 237: Domain Websites

What is typically in a Domain Website?

A Domain website typically focuses on being a central location for information, both for current players and potential new ones. For new players it provides important information like a point of contact for the Domain Coordinator and Storyteller as well as a schedule of events. On the other side, for current members it can also provide important information like a repository of Domain Status Reports, announcements of socials or charity drives, and more.

There are a number of different places a website, or the equivalent requirement for a Domain, can be hosted. For those who are unable to manage a website, many Domains have turned to the ever-so-popular Facebook for their internet media needs, creating Pages or Groups to fulfill similar necessities. And, as yet another alternative, MES has its own Wiki, which many domains use as well; it is simple to use, yet limited in functionality due to its nature as a Wiki.

Where to host your site

If you plan on using Facebook or the Wiki, then you do not need to worry about hosting your website, but your options are limited on what can you do on those. If you want more freedom, then you might need a website of your own; which means you need 2 things: a domain (the URL you type on the web browser) and a host (a place to put your files).

Page layout and what pages to have

A typical website has many pages each with a purpose to convey a specific information. All pages, typically, share a common section called the header. This is where your logo usually is, as well as your main navigation to be used for intuitively going from one page to another. You can normally find a free layout through whatever system you are hosting the website.

A Domain Website is recommended to have at least:

Homepage

Contact Us (officers information)

Reports

Schedule

Other important sections could be Venue specific pages, or related links. Please make sure to follow the marketing and copyright requirements for MES content that is outlined on the main website: http://www.mindseyesociety.org/about-us/marketing/. You can also find the MES banner to put on your site, linking back to the main website.

Plan a site map before laying out the website, so you know what pages are going to link to what.

Common helpful tools to use

One common advice for reports; create a public folder in a Google Drive and share the link. This should, in theory, be done by using a Coordinators’ gmail which would facilitate the transfer of ownership between outgoing and incoming coordinators.

Another piece of advice would be to create a Google Calendar which you can embed on your website. A great feature on Google Calendar is the ability to share the events; this could be done to create a Regional calendar with all the Domain calendars operated by each of the Domain Coordinators respectively. Alternatively, or additionally, you can publicize your events on Facebook Events and MeetUp.

If you are building a website from scratch, and not through Google Sites or another content manager such as WordPress or Drupal, you can find the actual code for your layout online. A quick trip to google for “Free Html Templates” can get you started.

Finally, if you have any general tech questions, feel free to email the National Tech Administrator at nta@mindseyesociety.org.